Workout Secrets from the Best College Basketball Teams

Need more flash in your drives? More lift in your layups? Try these drills from the NCAA's elite strength and conditioning coaches

By: Andrew Heffernan

How they Made it to March Madness

Photo Credit: Corbis Images

Hoops is a game of attrition, a fact that becomes painfully clear every March. The strongest, healthiest, and best-conditioned teams are the last ones standing. So to help you elevate your game, we recruited 16 of the NCAA's top strength and conditioning coaches, whose teams often play long after everyone else has gone home. Use their favorite training tricks and tips to pick up your performance. But the real reward is this: These routines blast fat and build muscle. Who says your best days on the court—and in front of the mirror—are behind you?

Break Fast

The Team: University of North Carolina  

The Expert: Jonas Sahratian, C.S.C.S.

  To make sure his players are the first ones down the court on a fast break, Sahratian has his Tar Heels do resisted sprints: One player runs as hard as he possibly can while a partner stands behind him and slows him down using a special harness. (To buy your own, search for "resistance trainers" at PerformBetter.com.) But you can also build a winning physique by trying out Sahratian’s Ultimate Medicine Ball Workout, the same ab-blasting core routine he uses with the Tar Heels basketball team. (Related: 15-Minute Medicine Ball Workout) It's a six-pack sculpting regimen that will help you burn fat and improve your sports performance.

Related: Ultimate Medicine Ball Workout 

Crash the Boards

The Team: University of Kentucky  

The Expert: Mike Malone, C.S.C.S.   

The Wildcats dominate the boards because of the band overhead squat, a warmup move that adds spring to their steps. (Video: Total Body Resistance Band Workout) Grab a half-inch-wide resistance band, with your hands shoulder-width apart. Stand on the band and spread your feet slightly beyond shoulder width. Press the band overhead and hold it there with your arms straight; this is the starting position. Push your hips back and squat until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. (Keep your torso upright and your back naturally arched.) Explosively spring back to the starting position. Do 2 or 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps before any game or workout.

Grab and Go

The Team: Syracuse University

The Expert: Ryan Cabiles, C.S.C.S.  

Great basketball requires relentless movement—setting rock-solid screens, boxing out for a big rebound, and playing dogged defense. Cabiles puts his Orange to the test with a drill called around the world: Set an empty container under the hoop. Distribute five cones evenly along the three-point line, or about 20 feet from the container, and place a tennis ball on each cone. Starting at the container, sprint to the ball farthest to your right, grab it, sprint back, and drop it into the receptacle. Spin around, retrieve the next ball, and sprint back. Repeat until you've retrieved all five. Do this drill 8 to 10 times, alternating your starting direction. Rest 30 to 45 seconds between drills.

Stretch Your Boundaries

The Team: Baylor University

  The Expert: Charlie Melton, C.S.C.S. 

Basketball is a game of length, and the farther you can extend your limbs in every direction without hurting yourself, the more distance you can cover. The Bears boost their range of motion with the spiderman crawl, a lower-body drill that builds mobility. Assume a pushup position. Now take a big step forward with your right foot and place it outside your right hand. Pause for a few seconds, and then lower your head and chest for a deeper stretch in your thigh muscles. Walk your hands out until you're once again in a pushup position, and step forward with your left leg. Do 8 to 10 reps on each side.

Related: 14 Smart Pushup Improvements

More from Fitbie: Stretching Exercises that Build Strength

Achieve Liftoff

The Team: University of Kansas  

The Expert: Andrea Hudy, C.S.C.S. 

True power comes from quick, strong movements—similar to what happens when you jump to block a shot or box out for a big rebound. That's why explosive lifts, such as the dumbbell single-arm snatch, are a staple of the Jayhawks' workouts. In a hip-width stance, grab a dumbbell in your left hand and hold it, using an overhand grip, at arm's length in front of your hips. Then bend at your hips and knees until the weight hangs just above your knees. Now jump, shrug your left shoulder, pull the dumbbell up, and catch it overhead with your arm straight. Do 4 sets of 3 reps with each arm.

Drive Hard

The Team: University of Connecticut  

The Expert: Chris West, C.S.C.S. 

West makes sure his Huskies are as solid as Mack trucks when driving to the basket by training them with the kneeling cable core press, a move that strengthens and stabilizes every muscle from hips to core to shoulders. To do it, attach a D handle to a hip-level pulley on a cable machine, and kneel with your right side next to the weight stack. Hold the handle against your chest. Press your arms straight out, hold for 10 seconds, and return the handle to your chest. Do this 10 times, and then turn around so your left side is next to the weight stack. Repeat the movement. That's 1 set. Do 1 more.

Related: 15-Minute Workout: Carve Your Core

Branch Out

The Team: Vanderbilt, University  

The Expert: Curtis Turner, C.S.C.S.

 The Commodores prepare to handle the unexpected with a drill called maps. Players are given a map of the campus with various highlighted locations, each of which features a fitness challenge. Create your own map drill at a local park. Give yourself five challenges—squats, pullups, squat thrusts, pushups, and agility drills, say—and space them about 100 yards apart. Pick a number of repetitions for each that's difficult yet attainable. Go through the stations as quickly as you can two or three times. Do this once a week.

Related: The Sweet 16 of Fitness